U.S. patent number 5,868,952 [Application Number 08/617,376] was granted by the patent office on 1999-02-09 for fabrication method with energy beam.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Ebara Corporation, Yotaro Hatamura. Invention is credited to Masahiro Hatakeyama, Yotaro Hatamura, Katsunori Ichiki, Takao Kato, Masayuki Nakao.
United States Patent |
5,868,952 |
Hatakeyama , et al. |
February 9, 1999 |
Fabrication method with energy beam
Abstract
Three-dimensional ultra-fine micro-fabricated structures of the
order of .mu.m and less are produced for use in advanced optical
communication systems and quantum effect devices. The basic
components are an energy beam source, a mask member and a specimen
stage. Because the mask member is an independent component, various
combinations of relative movements of the mask member with respect
to the beam axis and/or workpiece can be made with high precision
to produce curved or slanted surfaces on a workpiece, thereby
producing a multiple lines or arrays of convex or concave
micro-lenses. Other examples of fine-structures include deposition
of thin films in a multiple line pattern or in an array pattern.
Because of the flexibility of fabrication method and material of
fabrication, labyrinth seals having curved surfaces with grooved
structures can be used as friction reduction means for bearing
components. Fine groove dimensions of the order of nm are possible.
Energy beams can be any of fast atomic beams, ion beams, electron
beam, laser beams, radiation beams, X-ray beams and radical
particle beams. Parallel beams are often used, but when a focused
beam is used, a technique of reduced projection imaging can be
utilized to produce a fine-structure of the order of nm.
Inventors: |
Hatakeyama; Masahiro (Fujisawa,
JP), Ichiki; Katsunori (Fujisawa, JP),
Kato; Takao (Tokyo, JP), Hatamura; Yotaro
(Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, JP), Nakao; Masayuki (Matsudo,
JP) |
Assignee: |
Ebara Corporation (Tokyo,
JP)
Hatamura; Yotaro (Tokyo, JP)
|
Family
ID: |
27467274 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/617,376 |
Filed: |
March 18, 1996 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Mar 17, 1995 [JP] |
|
|
7-086537 |
Mar 17, 1995 [JP] |
|
|
7-086538 |
Mar 17, 1995 [JP] |
|
|
7-086539 |
Mar 17, 1995 [JP] |
|
|
7-086543 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
216/66; 216/45;
216/63; 257/E21.034; 257/E21.235; 257/E21.038 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01L
21/3086 (20130101); G03F 7/001 (20130101); G03F
7/70358 (20130101); H01L 21/0331 (20130101); H01J
9/025 (20130101); H01L 21/0337 (20130101); G03F
7/2037 (20130101); H01J 2209/0223 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G03F
7/20 (20060101); H01J 9/02 (20060101); H01L
21/308 (20060101); G03F 7/00 (20060101); H01L
21/02 (20060101); G03F 1/16 (20060101); H01L
21/033 (20060101); G03F 1/14 (20060101); B44C
001/22 () |
Field of
Search: |
;216/2,41,62,45,63,65,66
;156/345B ;438/712 ;250/251,492.1,492.21 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Other References
Becker, E.W. et al.: "Fabrication of Microstructures with High
Aspect Ratios and Great Structural Heights by Synchrotron Radiation
Lithography, Galvanoforming, and Plastic Moulding (LIGA Process)"
Microelectronic Engineering, vol. 4, 1986, pp. 35-56, XP002016184 *
the whole document*. .
Fusao Shimokawa et al., "Reactive-fast-atom beam etching of GaAs
using Cl.sub.2 gas", J. Appl. Phys. 66(6), 15 Sep. 1989, published
by 1989 American Institute of Physics, 1989, pp. 2613-2618. .
Tetsuro Nakamura et al., "Fabrication Technology of Integrated
Circuit", published by Sangyo Tosho Publishing Company (Japan),
1987, pp. 21-23 (includes English translation). .
Masayuki Nakao et al., "3-dimensional Handling in Nano
Manufacturing World", Proceedings of 71st Fall annual meeting of
the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, published by the Japan
Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1993, vol. F, pp. 273-275
(includes English Abstract). .
Masayuki Nakao et al., "Realization of 3-D Manufacturing in Nano
Manufacturing World", Proceedings of 71st Spring annual meeting of
the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, published by the Japan
Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1993, vol. IV, pp. 485-486
(includes English Abstract)..
|
Primary Examiner: Powell; William
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack,
L.L.P.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A micro-fabrication method for producing a fine structure on a
fabrication surface of a workpiece, said method comprising:
interposing between said fabrication surface of said workpiece and
an energy beam source a mask that is separate from and not rigidly
adhered to said workpiece and that has therein a fine structural
pattern;
irradiating an energy beam from said source through said pattern in
said mask and directly onto said fabrication surface of said
workpiece, and thereby producing on said fabrication surface of
said workpiece a fine structure as a function of said pattern;
and
during said irradiating, causing at least one component among said
workpiece, said energy beam source and said mask to undergo
movement relative to the other of said components, and thereby
controlling a duration of exposure of portions of said fabrication
surface of said workpiece to irradiation of said energy beam and
thus regulating production of said fine structure thereon.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said energy beam
comprises an electrically accelerated energy beam.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said energy beam
comprises a fast atomic beam.
4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said energy beam
comprises an ion beam.
5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mask is flexible
and conforms to contours of said fabrication surface of said
workpiece.
6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said causing said at
least one component to undergo said movement comprises repeatedly
causing said mask to undergo movement relative to said workpiece,
and thereby repeatedly superimposing said pattern of said mask on
said fabrication surface of said workpiece.
7. A method as claimed in claim 6, wherein said movement comprises
rotational movement.
8. A method as claimed in claim 6, wherein said movement comprises
translational movement.
9. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said causing said at
least one component to undergo said movement comprises causing said
mask to undergo relative movement with respect to a surface
configuration of said fabrication surface.
10. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said relative movement
comprises a planar circular motion having a constant radius or
variable radii.
11. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said relative movement
comprises a linear reciprocating motion.
12. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said relative movement
comprises planar movement in a square trace.
13. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said relative movement
comprises periodic motion at variable speeds.
14. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said relative movement
of said at least one component is continuous with respect to said
other components, thereby producing said fine structure to have a
smooth or inclined surface.
15. A method as claimed in claim 1, comprising forming said fine
structure as an undulation varying with respect to said fabrication
surface along the direction of said relative movement.
16. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein said relative movement
of said at least one component comprises moving said mask at a
speed determined in accordance with an inclined surface to be
formed as part of said fine structure.
17. A method as claimed in claim 1, comprising controlling duration
of said irradiation by movement of an edge of said mask.
18. A method as claimed in claim 1, comprising controlling duration
of said irradiation by movement of two opposed edges of said
mask.
19. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said relative movement
comprises a translation movement in a direction at a right angle to
and axis of said energy beam.
20. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising positioning
a stationary mask member between said energy beam source and said
fabrication surface and thereby defining a maximum area of exposure
of said fabrication surface to irradiation by said energy beam.
21. A method as claimed in claim 1, comprising positioning a
plurality of masks between said energy beam source and said
fabrication surface.
22. A method as claimed in claim 21, further comprising exchanging
at least one of said plurality of masks during exposure of said
fabrication surface to irradiation by said energy beam.
23. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said irradiating and
producing said fine structure comprises at least one of an etching
process, a film deposition process, a joining process and a bonding
process.
24. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said energy beam
comprises a focussed energy beam.
25. A method as claimed in claim 1, comprising providing said
pattern as beam transmission openings in said mask, each said
opening having a minimum size of 0.1 to 10 nm.
26. A method as claimed in claim 1, comprising providing said
pattern as beam transmission openings in said mask, each said
opening having a minimum size of 10 to 100 nm.
27. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mask is spaced
from said fabrication surface.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a method of
microfabrication using energy beams and relates in particular to an
ultra-fine microfabrication method which is applicable to making of
quantum effect devices, optical lenses, friction reduction devices
and fluid seals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional semiconductor device fabrication has been carried out
with the use of photolithography as illustrated in FIG. 121. In
such a method, those regions of a substrate which are not to be
fabricated are covered with a photomask, and the unprotected
regions are exposed to an ultra-violet beam for photographic
development, or energized ions in the case of plasma processing.
The depth of fabrication is controlled by adjusting the time of
material etching.
More detailed explanation of photolithographic method will be given
below. In step 1, a photoresist material 302 is applied as a
coating on the fabrication surface of a substrate base 301. In step
2, a photomask 303 is placed on the target surface which is
irradiated with an ultra-violet beam 304, thereby transferring the
device pattern 303a formed on the photomask 303 onto the
photoresist 302. In step 3, the device pattern 303a is
photographically developed to remove the photoresist 302 from the
UV-exposed regions of the device pattern 303a so that the
fabrication surface of the substrate base 301 will be exposed.
In step 4, selective etching is performed using ions and radicals
in a plasma discharge acting on the exposed surface of the base
301, and finally in step 5, the remaining photoresist 302 is
removed. By going through the five steps outlined above, the
cavities 1c which are identical to the device patterns 303a are
formed on the base 301. This basic cycle is repeated to complete
the formation of device cavities.
The conventional photolithographic fabrication method is capable of
forming cavities having a relatively simple cross sectional
profile; however, curvatures and inclined depth profile shapes can
only be made by preparing a series of patterns having gradually
changing patterns. Fabrication is performed by successively
exchanging the patterns and repeating the exposure and development
processes to form the curves and complex profiles in stages. This
approach is not only time consuming and laborious, but also the
precision of the final product is not suitable for microfabrication
of advanced devices such as quantum effect devices.
The basic process of photomasking is inherently a complex process
involving the steps of: application of photoresist coating,
washing, exposure, baking and photographic development. The exposed
surface must then be processed by some energy beam to remove the
base material, after which the masking must be removed. The overall
process is cumbersome and laborious and results in high cost of
production. Furthermore, surface roughness and flatness of the
fabrication surface affect the precision of pattern making, and
thus severely lowering the yield of the process.
Further, the residual photoresist masking material, after the
completion of photolithographic processing step, must be removed
somehow, and if ashing is used, for example, the quality of surface
may be damaged, and if solution is used, contamination or obscurity
of shape may result, both of which adversely affect the
post-fabrication surface of the product.
The use of plasma for fabrication processing presents a problem of
random incident beam angles of ionic particles, and the variation
in the incident beam angle is further aggravated by the local
charge accumulation in a small surface area. These problems result
in a prominent tendency for homogeneous etching, particularly in
the case of micro-fabrication processing, and produces devices with
low flatness at the bottom of etched grooves and low verticality of
the side walls of the grooves. These problems present a severe
limitation in the precision of fabrication, particularly for making
device patterns in the ultra-fine range of less than 1 .mu.m.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultra-fine
micro-fabrication method, having a high degree of freedom in making
fine-structural patterns, with high precision even on curved or
slanted surfaces of a workpiece. Another object is to provide an
apparatus based on the method thereof. Still another object is to
provide some devices made using the apparatus and the fabrication
method of the present invention.
The object is achieved in a micro-fabrication method for processing
a fabrication surface of a workpiece for producing a fine-structure
on said fabrication surface by irradiating the workpiece with an
energy beam generated from an energy beam source, and interposing a
mask member, having a fine-structural pattern, between the energy
beam source and the workpiece, wherein the mask member is disposed
directly on or distanced from a fabrication surface of the
workpiece so as to produce a fine-structure on the fabrication
surface of the workpiece.
According to the fabrication method, because the mask member is
provided as a separate body, processing of the fine-structural
pattern is facilitated, and fine and complex patterns can be
generated. Because the mask member is not attached to the
fabrication surface, the technique is not restricted by the nature
or the shape of the fabrication surface.
An aspect of the above method is that the method includes at least
one process of etching, forming of a film, joining and bonding.
Another aspect of the method is that the mask member is made
flexible so as to enable deforming to conform to contours of the
fabrication surface so that uneven surface configuration would not
interfere with the method.
Another aspect of the method is that a plurality of fabrication
surfaces can be processed so as to simultaneously or successively
expose said fabrication surfaces to said energy beam, thereby
eliminating the requirement of charging a workpiece and removing
the processed workpiece from a reaction chamber for each processing
of a work surface.
Another aspect of the method is that the mask member is repeatedly
made to undergo a relative movement with respect to the workpiece
so as to superimpose the fine-structural pattern repeatedly on a
fabrication surface, thereby enabling to production of a
superimposed fine-structure in one location or several
fine-structures in different locations.
Another aspect of the method is that the relative movement is a
rotation movement about an axis so that a fine-structure may be
produced on a peripheral surface or on multiple side surfaces.
Another aspect of the method is that at least one of the energy
beam source, the mask member and the workpiece is made to undergo a
relative movement with respect to the remaining components while
controlling a duration of exposure to irradiation of the
fabrication surface with the energy beam so as to produce a
fine-structure on the fabrication surface, whereby fine-structures
can be produced without being limited by the surface configuration
such as the height and depth of the fine-structure to be made on
the fabrication surface. The separated mask member facilitates
making of fine-structural patterns to enable making fine and
complex patterns. There is no need to attach the mask member to the
workpiece, thus the technique is not limited by the surface
configuration.
Another aspect of the method is that at least one of the energy
beam source, the mask member and the workpiece is made to undergo a
continuous relative movement with respect to the remaining
components so as to produce a fine-structure having a smooth or an
inclined surface, thereby enabling to fabrication of not only
simple fine-structures but those having curved surfaces or complex
surface configurations.
Another aspect of the method is that the mask member is moved along
the surface configuration or along a particular direction while the
workpiece is being irradiated, then a fine slanted-structure
extending in the direction of the movement in accordance with a
variation in the speed of the movement. This approach enables
production of a three-dimensional fine-structure by using a mask
member having a simple structural pattern. Schedules of speed
changes can be easily stored in a computer, thereby enabling
numerical control accurately and automatically.
Another aspect of the method is that the mask member is a
stationary mask member to define a maximum area of exposure to
irradiation, and the stationary mask member may be exchanged with
another mask member to produce a more complex fine-structure on the
fabrication surface.
Another aspect of the method is that a degree of exposure to
irradiation is controlled on a basis of a distribution of openings
in a fine-structural pattern, thereby enabling production of a
fine-structure using a mask member having different beam
transmission areas of fine-structural patterns along a direction
crossing a movement direction. By combining the effects of
different degrees of exposure to irradiation in the widthwise with
the effects due to different speeds, even more complex
fine-structures can be produced.
Another aspect of the method is that the mask member is made of a
material having a different reactivity than the workpiece, so that
only the workpiece will react selectively to the beam and the
fine-patterns on the mask member are preserved. This approach will
ensure not only that the service life of the mask member is
prolonged but that contamination due to the shield material will be
prevented. It is also permissible to provide a coating only to the
surface of the mask member.
Another aspect of the method is that the mask member is provided
with a fine-structural pattern comprising a repetition of a common
shape, thereby enabling reproduction of a fine-structure with the
use of only one mask member.
Another aspect of the method is that the energy beam includes a
fast atomic beam, an ion beam, an electron beam, a laser beam, a
radiation beam, an X-ray beam, an atomic beam and a molecular beam,
i.e. an electrically accelerated energy beam. Combined with
pretreatment to generate an energy beam of good linearity and
directionality, fabrication can be made selectively, and a
fine-structure can be accurately produced according to the fine
pattern in accordance with the position and the movement speed of
the mask member. By using an energy beam of high directionality,
beam energy can be transmitted to even narrow regions of the
fabrication surface so that a fine-structure having a high aspect
ratio, which is difficult to produce with the plasma processing,
can be produced.
A fast atomic beam (FAB) is an electrically neutral beam, and its
directionality is excellent, therefore, FAB is applicable to a wide
range of materials, and the beam is able to penetrate into fine
holes or deep recesses so that even the bottom surface of the
fine-structure can be processed flat precisely and vertical side
walls can be made vertical precisely.
Ion beams are useful in processing electrically conductive
materials such as metals. An electron beam is adaptable to various
beam shapes, such as a shower beam or a fine beam, both of which
can be highly controlled and used in conjunction with reactive
gases to provide enhancement in surface reaction.
Laser, radiation and X-ray beams have their particular energies and
wavelengths, and produce different effects on the fabrication
surface. These beams can be used to remove materials from the
surface to produce a fine-structure, or used in conjunction with
reactive gas particles adsorbed on the fabrication surface to
induce activity to remove the material from the surface with the
activated particles.
The selection of a beam from among the laser, radiation and X-ray
beams depends on the size of the fine-structural patterns, the
nature of the fabrication surface and the different behaviors of
reactive gas particles. When the size is extremely small, for
example, structural patterns smaller than the wavelength of a laser
beam would be difficult to fabricate so that shorter wavelength
beams such as X-ray or radiation beams will have to be used. Atomic
or molecular beams are low energy particle beams, and
fine-structures having low surface damage may be produced. It can
be seen that the choice will have to be made on the basis of the
nature of each application.
By using an energy beam which is a focusing beam, reduced
projection imaging is made possible. The size of the
fine-structural pattern on the mask member is reduced in size and
is projected onto the fabrication surface, thereby enabling
production of a fine-structure having a pattern of reduced size
compared to the size of the pattern of the mask member. To control
the degree of reduction, the beam focusing angle or the separation
distance between the mask member and the workpiece is adjusted. By
this method, a degree of size reduction of the order of tens of
thousandths is possible.
The reduced projection imaging technique is particularly useful
when making a fine-structural pattern on the mask member is
difficult, for example when a 0.1 nm line width is required but the
structural pattern can be made only to a 10 nm size.
Another object is to provide an apparatus for use with the
micro-fabrication method presented above. The apparatus comprises:
an energy beam source; a specimen stage disposed in a beam axis for
holding a workpiece; a mask member having a fine-structural
pattern; and a positioning device for providing a relative movement
of at least one of the energy beam source, the mask member and the
workpiece with respect to the remaining components.
The positioning device may be made so that it can be moved
continually relative to at least one of the beam source, the mask
member and the workpiece to produce a fine-structure having a
smooth or slanted surface.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a mask
member to use with the micro-fabrication method presented above.
The minimum size of the fine-structural pattern on the mask member
is in a range of 0.1 to 10,000 nm.
A beam transmission opening may be produced by thinning a region of
the mask member and forming an opening in this thinned region.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1A-1C are perspective views of a first embodiment of the
ultra-fine microfabrication method of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the
ultra-fine microfabrication method of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the
ultra-fine microfabrication method of the present invention.
FIGS. 4A-4C are perspective views of another embodiment of the
ultra-fine microfabrication method of the present invention.
FIGS. 5A-5C are perspective views of another embodiment of the
ultra-fine microfabrication method of the present invention.
FIGS. 6A-6C are perspective views of another embodiment of the
ultra-fine microfabrication method of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an overall schematic view of a fabrication apparatus
using the energy beam of the first embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a side view of an ultra-fine micro-stage.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the ultra-fine micro-stage.
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another example of the ultra-fine
micro-stage.
FIG. 11 is an overall schematic view of a fabrication apparatus
using the energy beam of the second embodiment.
FIGS. 12A-12C are schematic views of making a mask member used in
the fabrication method.
FIG. 13 is a schematic view of another mask member used in the
fabrication method.
FIGS. 14A-14B are schematic views of another embodiment of the
fabrication method of the present invention.
FIG. 15 is a schematic view of another mask member used in the
fabrication method.
FIG. 16 is a schematic view of still another mask member used in
the fabrication method.
FIG. 17 is an illustration of a post-fabrication step of the
processing of the mask member shown in FIG. 16.
FIG. 18 is an example of the fabrication method using the mask
member produced by the process shown in FIG. 16.
FIG. 19 is a schematic view of still another mask member used in
the fabrication method.
FIG. 20 is an example of a fine structure produced by the
fabrication method of the present invention.
FIGS. 21A-21C are schematic views of making still another mask
member used in the fabrication method.
FIGS. 22A-22B are schematic views of still another mask member used
in the fabrication method.
FIGS. 23A-23B are schematic views of still another mask member used
in the fabrication method.
FIGS. 24A-24B are schematic views of still another mask member used
in the fabrication method.
FIGS. 25A-25B are schematic views of still another mask member used
in the fabrication method.
FIGS. 26A-26B are schematic views of another embodiment of the
fabrication method using the mask shown in FIGS. 25A-25B.
FIG. 27 is a schematic view of still another mask member used in
the fabrication method.
FIGS. 28A-28B are schematic views of still another embodiment of
the fabrication method.
FIG. 29 is a schematic view of still another embodiment of the
fabrication method.
FIGS. 30A-30B are schematic views of still another embodiment of
the fabrication method.
FIG. 31 is a schematic view of still another embodiment of the
fabrication method.
FIGS. 32A-32B are schematic views of still another embodiment of
the fabrication method.
FIGS. 33A-33B are schematic views of an embodiment of a quantum
effect device made by the fabrication method.
FIGS. 34A-34B illustrate an example of a bearing having a labyrinth
seal made by the fabrication method of the present invention.
FIG. 35 illustrates a method of making the bearing shown in FIG.
34.
FIG. 36 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the bearing
having the labyrinth seal.
FIG. 37 illustrates a method of making the bearing shown in FIG.
36.
FIG. 38 is a schematic view of still another embodiment of the
bearing having the labyrinth seal.
FIGS. 39A-39B are views of some essential parts of the bearing
shown in FIG. 38.
FIG. 40 illustrates a method of making the bearing shown in FIG.
38.
FIG. 41 is a schematic illustration of an example of the
fabrication method based on reduced projection imaging of the
present invention.
FIG. 42 is the mask member for use with the method shown in FIGS.
6A-6C.
FIG. 43 is an example of a fine-structure produced by the method
shown in FIGS. 6A-6C.
FIG. 44 is another example of a fine-structure produced by the
method shown in FIG. 6A-6C.
FIG. 45 is a schematic illustration of an example of another
fabrication method.
FIGS. 46A-46B are schematic illustrations of a still another
example of a fabrication method.
FIG. 47 is an example of a fine-structure produced by the method
shown in FIGS. 46A-46B.
FIGS. 48 to FIGS. 76 are views illustrating various examples of the
fabrication method.
FIG. 77 illustrates an example of making a fine lens-structure by
the fabrication method.
FIG. 78 illustrates another example of making a fine lens-structure
by the fabrication method.
FIG. 79 illustrates still another example of making a fine
lens-structure by the fabrication method.
FIG. 80 illustrates an example of a micro-fabrication apparatus to
perform the fabrication method.
FIG. 81 is an illustration of the fabrication method using the
apparatus of the present invention.
FIGS. 82A-82C are illustrations relating to the movement of the
mask member and the fine-structure produced by a parallel circular
motion of the mask member.
FIGS. 83A-83D are illustrations relating to steps in producing
uniform etching of the fine-structure shown in FIG. 82C.
FIG. 84 is an illustration of another example of the fabrication
method using the apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 85 is a cross sectional view of the fine-structure produced by
the method shown in FIG. 84.
FIG. 86 is an illustration of still another example of the
fabrication method using the apparatus of the present
invention.
FIGS. 87A and 87B are illustrations of the movement of the beam
transmission hole and the fine-structure thus produced.
FIG. 88 is an illustration of still another example of the
fabrication method using the apparatus of the present
invention.
FIG. 89 is an illustration of the movement of the beam transmission
hole.
FIG. 90 is a cross sectional view of the fine-structure produced by
the method shown in FIG. 89.
FIG. 91 is an illustration of still another example of the
fabrication method using the apparatus of the present
invention.
FIGS. 92A-92B are illustrations of an example of a fine-structural
pattern having beam blocking patches and movements of the
patches.
FIG. 93 is a cross sectional view of the fine-structure made using
the mask member shown in FIGS. 92A-92B.
FIGS. 94A-94E show various processing steps (A) to (E) related to
forming a fine optical-structure.
FIG. 95 is an illustration of still another example of the
fabrication method using the apparatus of the present
invention.
FIG. 96 shows various patterns of beam transmission holes and beam
blocking patches formed by the method shown in FIG. 95.
FIG. 97 is a cross sectional view of the fine-structure made using
the mask member shown in FIG. 96.
FIG. 98 is an illustration of still another example of the
fabrication method using the apparatus of the present
invention.
FIGS. 99A-99B show movement of the mask member and a cross
sectional view of the fine-structure made.
FIG. 100 is an illustration of still another example of the
fabrication method using the apparatus of the present
invention.
FIG. 101 is a cross sectional view of the fine-structure made by
the method shown in FIG. 100.
FIG. 102 is an illustration of still another example of the
fabrication method using the apparatus of the present invention and
showing time of motion of the mask member.
FIG. 103 is a cross sectional view of the fine-structure made by
the method shown in FIG. 102.
FIG. 104 is an example of a mask member having a special shaped
beam transmission cavity.
FIG. 105 is an illustration of the fine-structure made by the mask
member shown in FIG. 104.
FIG. 106 is an illustration of still another example of the
fabrication method using the mask member shown in FIG. 104.
FIG. 107 is an illustration of still another example of the
fabrication method using the apparatus of the present
invention.
FIG. 108 is a cross sectional view of the fine-structure made by
the method shown in FIG. 107.
FIG. 109 is an example of a mask member having lattice structured
beam transmission holes.
FIG. 110 is an illustration of movement of the mask member shown in
FIG. 109 based on a square trace.
FIG. 111 is a perspective view of the fine-structure produced by
the method shown in FIG. 110.
FIG. 112 is an example of a mask member having lattice structured
beam blocking patches.
FIG. 113 is a perspective view of the fine-structure produced by
the mask member shown in FIG. 112.
FIG. 114 is an illustration of still another example of the
fabrication method using the apparatus of the present
invention.
FIG. 115 is a cross sectional view of the fine-structure produced
by the method shown in FIG. 114.
FIG. 116 is an illustration of still another example of the
fabrication method using the apparatus of the present
invention.
FIG. 117 is a cross sectional view of the fine-structure produced
by the method shown in FIG. 116.
FIG. 118 is an illustration of still another example of the
fabrication method using the apparatus of the present
invention.
FIG. 119 is a cross sectional view of the fine-structure produced
by the method shown in FIG. 118.
FIGS. 120A-120E illustrate basic processing steps related to
forming a mass production of replicas.
FIG. 121 illustrates basic processing steps related to the
conventional energy beam fabrication method.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIGS. 1A-1B show the basic approach to the fabrication method of
the present invention. The method comprises the steps of placing
mask members M1 on a fabrication surface of a target workpiece W1
and irradiating the workpiece W1 with an energy beam B as
illustrated in FIG. 1A. The mask members M may be rods (for example
fine wires) having a width dimension in a range of either 0.1-10 nm
(nanometer); 10-100 nm; or 100 nm-10 .mu.m (micrometer). By
choosing a proper type of energy beam, the workpiece W1 can be
fabricated as illustrated in FIG. 1B by the etching effect of the
beam on the workpiece W1.
The energy beam may be chosen from a number of fast atomic beams
(FAB) whose particles are not electrically charged and whose beam
directivity is controllable. The FAB may be generated from a FAB
source based on chlorine-or fluorine-containing gas, such as the
one disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No.
5-121194. The highly directional FAB generated from such a source
reaches the fabrication surface of the workpiece W1 after passing
through the mask member M1. In the illustrated embodiment, the
material of the workpiece W1 is SiGaAs, but other semiconductor
materials, insulators such as glass and quartz, and metals may be
used. The mask member M1 may be made from materials such as
tungsten, gold, silver, platinum and nickel which can be fabricated
into fine wires by electro-forming to about 50 .mu.m diameter. The
mask member M1 is retained on the surface by some suitable
means.
A process other than material removal method such as etching may
also be utilized by varying the type of the process gas and the
amount of the energy of the beam, for example, to form a thin film
on the surface of the workpiece W1 as shown in FIG. 1C. In this
case, the beam energy may vary between several eV to several
hundreds of eV, and the type of gas can be any carbon-containing
gas such as methane or any of aluminum-or titanium-containing
gases. When the surface is irradiated with such a beam, insulating
or conductive film may be formed on the irradiated regions,
depending on the type of the gas, thereby transferring the pattern
of the mask members M1 on to the fabrication surface.
FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the method in which the mask
member M1 is laid directly on a workpiece W2. A fine mask wire M1
is in spirally wound on a cylindrical workpiece W2 which is rotated
about its rod axis in an energy beam. The resulting fine-structure
after removing the material from the exposed region of the
workpiece W2 is a spiral protrusion 3 formed below the mask member
M1. It can be seen that a complex fine-structure can be formed by a
relatively simple method of winding a mask member M1 directed on a
three-dimensional workpiece W2.
FIG. 3 shows another application of winding a ribbon shaped mask
member M2 (rather than a wire-shaped) directly on the workpiece W2,
thereby enabling formation a wider spiral protrusion than the one
shown in FIG. 2. The method is applicable to any shape of
workpiece, for example, square rods, rectangular bodies, cones and
spheres. It is also possible to fabricate a series of local regions
to produce a final complex fine-structure. The mask member M2 may
be provided with a patterned opening to produce more complex
fine-structures. As shown by these examples, fine wires or thin
film or foil may be used for mask material M to provide an
efficient method of multi-faced three dimensional fabrication to
avoid the inefficiency of fabricating each face separately.
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4A-4C, a rod-shaped workpiece W2
is fixed on a stage together with a foil-shaped mask member M2.
This arrangement is in contrast to a solid plate mask member M3
shown in FIGS. 5A-5C, and the advantage is that the mask member M2
can be made to intimately contact the workpiece W2 so that the
separation distance between the mask member M2 and the workpiece W2
is short and constant, thereby permitting a well-defined pattern
transfer. It is recognized that well-defined image transfer
requires a separation distance of about 100 .mu.m, and the contact
is improved by the elasticity in the mask member M2. An elastic
mask member M2 may be produced by using a composite material
comprising resins or rubber mixed with suitable metals. It is also
permissible to arrange a number of mask members M2 in layers.
FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate an example of the fabrication method using
the mask member M2 shown in FIGS. 4A-4B. The workpiece W2 is a
polyimide rod of 0.5 mm diameter. As shown in FIG. 5A, a nickel
foil of 10 .mu.m thickness having a circular hole of 200 .mu.m
diameter is wound on a workpiece W2. Because of the thinness of the
foil material, the masking can be wound tightly around the rod W2.
When an oxygen-FAB is radiated onto the rod W2, a hole 4 of about
200 .mu.m diameter is formed at right angles to the rod axis as
illustrated in FIG. 6B. Such a component is useful as a basic
element for making a micro-device such as the one illustrated in
FIG. 6C.
In other embodiments of the fabrication method described hereafter,
the workpiece W and the mask member M are separated so that the
relative positions of the FAB source, the mask member M and the
workpiece W can be altered.
The apparatus shown in FIG. 7 is for use for such a method and
comprises: a FAB source 5 for generating a parallel beam of
energized particles; a support stage 6 opposite to the source 5 for
supporting the workpiece W; and a holding device 7 for holding the
mask member M. The support stage 6 is provided with a
work-manipulator 8 for providing micro-movement of the workpiece W,
and the holding device 7 is provided with a mask-manipulator 9 for
providing micro-movement of the mask member M.
The work-manipulator 8 produces a rotation/parallel movement, and
is provided with a vertical assembly comprising X-, Y- and
Z-translators 10, 11 and 12, and a rotation device 13 which can
rotate about the Z-axis. The mask-manipulator 9 comprises: X-, Y-
and Z-rotation devices 14, 15 and 16; and a parallelism-adjustment
device 17 for adjusting the parallel orientation of the mask member
M biaxially with respect to the workpiece W.
As shown in FIG. 8, at the base of the mask member M, there is a
micro-manipulator stage 19 utilizing a piezo-electric element 18 to
enable shift adjustment in the direction of parallel movement in
the order of 0.1-50 nm accuracy with the use of the piezo-electric
element 18 in conjunction with contracting or expanding
micro-translator stage. FIGS. 9 and 10 show examples of the
micro-translator stage 19. Control of the micro-movement using the
piezo-electric device 18 is carried out by a device permitting a
movement along at most three orthogonal axes, but a case of
uniaxial control is shown in FIG. 9, while the example shown in
FIG. 10 has a biaxial directional control.
FIG. 11 shows a fabrication apparatus similar to the one shown in
FIG. 7, but the difference is in the support device 20 for
supporting the workpiece W. That is, the apparatus comprises:
triaxial parallel translator stages 10, 11 and 12; and a rotation
device 20 for rotating the workpiece W in a plane about a work axis
so as to enable rotating the workpiece W at right angles or at an
angle to the beam path B. The mask-holding device 7 is the same as
the one in FIG. 7, and the micro-manipulator with a piezo-electric
element and a micro-movement along at most three orthogonal axes
are also the same. Devices other than the piezo-electric device
such as magnetostrictive devices or thermal expansion effects
devices, may also be used for micro-manipulation. Depending on the
distance to be moved, a lever-based movement may also be
utilized.
Next, the construction and method of making a micro-mask member M
will be explained. As shown in FIG. 12A, a fine-patterned element
21, made by electro-polishing or electro-forming, is placed in a
sealed chamber 22 that is evacuated. A process gas G reactive to
the element 21 is introduced into the chamber 22, thereby removing
the surface material from the element 21 with the gas particles so
as to gradually reduce the size of the element 21 uniformly in all
directions.
The rate of chemical reaction is controlled by radiating a lamp 23
onto the element 21 to control the activation of the gas G or by
controlling the temperature of the element 21. To control the
temperature of the element 21, it is permissible to use a heater 24
in addition to the lamp 23. By controlling the rate of chemical
reaction on the surface, it is possible to control the size
reduction on the order of 0.1-10 nm by adjusting the duration of
reaction. Other method such as immersion in a chemical reaction are
not suitable because of the rapid rate of size reduction in such
cases.
FIG. 12B shows an example of a rod-shaped mask member M3 fabricated
by the method described above. A starting fine rod-shaped mask
member M3' of 50-100 nm diameter is prepared by electro-polishing
and the like, and then the starting member M3' is further processed
by the method described above into a rod-shaped fine-structure to
be used as a mask member M3. If the material of the fine-structure
is GaAs or Si, a chlorine-or fluorine-group process gas is used,
and if the material is tungsten, a fluorine-group process gas is
used. Instead of a reactive process gas, reactive radical particles
can also be used. The reaction rate with a reactive radical
particles is faster than that with a reactive gas in producing a
uniformly etched product, and is suitable for processing a large
quantity of mask members.
FIG. 12C shows another example of a fine-structure mask member M4
having a tetragonal-shaped base portion 25 at the root of a
rod-shaped patterning portion 26. The base portion 25 of the mask
member M4 is designed for handling of the mask member M4 whose
rod-shaped patterning portion 26 performs the masking action. The
size of the base portion 25 may be about 1 mm. Similar to the case
shown in FIG. 12B, the starting member M4' is prepared by the
conventional method, and it is fabricated further by the
fabrication method shown in FIG. 12A to produce the final mask
member M4.
During the fabrication process, the base portion 25 is coupled to
the micro-manipulator or rotation/translator stage so as to permit
micro-movement, when necessary. It follows that, in contrast to the
previous example, the mask member M and the workpiece W can be
separated by a distance of up to about 100 .mu.m. Separation
distance larger than this is undesirable because of the effect of
beam scattering. FIG. 13 shows a mask member M5 having a plurality
of rod-shaped mask members 26a formed integrally with the base
portion 25.
FIGS. 14A-14B show an example of a mask member M6 made of Ni to
form a fine structure W1. The base portion 27 and a polygonal mask
member 28 are formed integrally as a unit. As in the cases
presented in FIG. 12C and FIG. 13, the fine-structure is coupled to
a micro-manipulator or translator stage for micro-movement. As
discussed in relation to the example presented in FIGS. 1A-1C, by
changing the type of energy beam or process gas, it is possible to
perform etching (FIG. 14A) or to form a film deposit (FIG.
14B).
FIG. 15 shows a modification of mask member M6. A mask member M7'
prepared by electro-forming from a material such as Ni and the like
has a fine-structure patterning portion 30a to be further reduced
in size to produce a mask member M7. The apparatus and the process
for making such a fine-structure mask member M7 is the same as
those presented in FIG. 12A. When the material for the mask member
M7 is Ni, chlorine-group gas may be used as a reactive gas or
reactive radical particles. The temperature of the starting mask
member M7 may be regulated within about 500-1000K by using a heater
24 or a lamp 23. The overall uniform reduction in size of about
1-19 .mu.m can be achieved.
FIGS. 16 and 17 present another approach to making a rod-shaped
mask member M8.
As shown in FIG. 16, a jig 31 comprises two frame portions 31a,
31b, a middle portion 31c, and a shaft portion 31d, and the shaft
portion 31d is attachable to a rotating machine. The frame portion
31a is provided with an opening 31e. The jig 31 is wound with fine
wire 32a of about 1 .mu.m diameter. The wire material may be a
carbon-based material or quartz fiber and the spacing between the
winding may be 5 .mu.m, for example. Uniform and parallel winding
is obtained by using a NC spindle to control the spacing. The wound
wire 32a is attached to the surface of the frame portion 31a, after
which the portions 31a and 31b are separated to produce a starting
mask member M8' as shown in FIG. 17.
The starting mask member M8' is placed in the apparatus shown in
FIG. 12A, and a reactive gas or reactive radical particles are
introduced into the evacuated chamber 22. The temperature of the
starting mask member M8' or the reactivity/activity of the reactive
gas/radical particles is controlled to remove the surface material
from the starting mask member M8' so that the 1 .mu.m diameter of
the starting wire 32a may be reduced to the final diameter in a
range of 0.1-100 nm for the fine-structure portion 32 of the mask
member M8.
The fine-structures shown in FIGS. 1B-1C are produced by
fabrication with the use of mask member M8, similar to the case of
production using the mask members shown in FIGS. 12B, 12C and
13.
By using the mask member shown in either FIGS. 14, 15 or 17 and
repeatedly altering the position of the workpiece W, a
fine-structure shown in FIG. 18, in which two patterns are
superimposed on each other (an island protrusion 34 formed at an
intersection of line protrusions 33), can be produced. The detailed
steps are as follows. The mask member M8 is used in conjunction
with irradiation with an energy beam. After rotating the mask
member M8 90.degree. with respect to the workpiece W, the above
step is repeated. The rotation motion can be performed using a
rotation device 13 shown in FIG. 7. The fine-structure thus
produced is useful in reducing the friction when sliding motions
are involved in any two planes. Such fine-structures are used in
bearing devices for rotational shafts or for optical or magnetic
disks to realize low-friction high performance of such devices.
FIG. 19 shows still another mask member M9 which is produced by
attaching wires 32 on both sides of the frame portion 35, with
method of FIG. 16, and by further reducing the size by the
apparatus and the method of FIGS. 12A-12C, thus producing the
fine-structure 32. The mask member M9 produces an intersecting line
pattern comprising line protrusions 36. When this process of
forming the pattern 36 is repeated for other faces of a polygonal
workpiece, a fine-structure such as the one illustrated in FIG. 20
can be produced on a workpiece W3.
FIGS. 21A-21C illustrate another method for making a mask member
M10 which was similar to the one shown in FIG. 17. The material for
wires 37 is gold of 20 .mu.m diameter. Using a wire-bonder used in
semiconductor device manufacturing, the gold wires 37 are installed
on an aluminum plate 38 on a Si base 39. The wires 37 are tensioned
across respective V-grooves 41 on opposing pads 40 formed on the Si
base 39.
Using an ordinary wire-bonder, it not easy to obtain a wire pitch
of 20 .mu.m spacing, however, when the wires are tensioned across
the V-grooves, the wires become self-aligned. To avoid slack in the
wires 37, the aluminum plate 38 is bolted to an aluminum base 43
having knife edges 42 so that the aluminum plate 38 is bowed, as
illustrated in FIG. 21B, to tension the wires 37.
Making of the mask member M10 is facilitated by using fine-wires
37. The surface of the wires 37 is smooth and the size of the wire
is constant throughout, thereby providing dimensional precision.
The strength of the wires 37 is relatively high, thus making it
possible achieve proper pre-tensioning so that even if the
temperature rises during the use and the frame portion of the mask
member M10 expands, there is no slack generated in the slits.
Instead of gold wires, other metallic wires, for example, aluminum
wires may also be used, and in this case, the wires installed with
tension can be further processed by etching, for example to further
reduce the wire diameter.
Other methods for making the mask member include a method based on
coating of a photoresist pattern on a stainless foil, etching to
produce cavities and removing the resist coating; a method based on
laser boring of a polyimide foil; a method similar to
electro-forming in which a resist pattern is produced on a glass
plate, followed by electroless nickel plating on the pattern and
later removing the nickel plating.
FIGS. 22A and 22B show an example of a slitted plate mask member
M11. The plate mask member M11 has a thickness suitable for use as
a rigid member, and should be made of a stainless steel plate
thicker than 100 .mu.m. In this example, a stainless steel plate of
100 .mu.m thickness is provided with a fine cavity pattern 46. The
cavity is produced by laser drilling of the cavity. An infrared
laser source such as CO.sub.2 laser or YAG laser may be used in
conjunction with an aperture control device to focus a fine spot
and by controlling the movement of the micro-manipulator stage and
laser intensity to produce a cavity 46 (100 .mu.m by 500 .mu.m)
such as the one shown in FIG. 22B in the mask member M11.
When the plate mask member M11 is to be used to transfer the cavity
pattern to a workpiece, the thickness as well as size of the
pattern shape of the plate mask member M11 are important variables
affecting the precision of pattern transfer. The thickness of the
plate usually associated with plate type material would not be
suitable for producing a cavity of high precision, and additionally
some scattering can occur at the side surfaces of the cavity to
degrade the precision of the pattern transfer. For fine cavities, a
thick plate would cause problems also due to scattering at the side
walls and adhesion of sputtered particles on the fabrication
surface. These problems are particularly severe for cavity patterns
of less than 10 .mu.m size.
The example shown in FIGS. 23A, 23B is presented to solve the
problems discussed above. In this example, the plate mask member
M12 is provided with at least one a thinned region 47 and a cavity
48 is formed in this region of the plate. In aluminum or stainless
steels, the thinned region 47 is produced by covering all regions
excepting the region to be thinned with a photoresist coating and
immersing the plate in a chemical solution to remove the material
from the uncoated region of the plate until the thickness in this
region becomes about 10 .mu.m. In Si, chemical etching is also
possible but fabrication by FAB or energy particles from a plasma
may also be used to remove the material from the thinned region
47.
The thinned region 47 may further be subjected to photo-resist
masking to produce a pattern, and in conjunction with FAB or plasma
processing, cavities of less than 10 .mu.m size can be produced. In
this example the plate member of 10.times.10 mm is provided with a
thinned region 47 measuring 500.times.500 .mu.m. Fine openings 48
are then produced in the thinned region 47 to produce an array of
slits measuring 5 .mu.m in width and 5 .mu.m spacing.
FIGS. 24A-24B show another example to solve the same problem. In
this case the plate mask member M13 has a tapered region descending
towards edges 50 of the cavity 49. Because edges 50 are sharp,
scattering is minimized and pattern transfer precision is
improved.
When the plate thickness is over 100 .mu.m, cavities of smaller
than several tens of micrometers in the plate mask member M11 can
be difficult to form because the size of side walls becomes larger
than the cavity size. Therefore, the scattering from the side wall
increases, and the pattern transfer precision is degraded.
To solve the above problem, FIGS. 25A and 25B present a foil mask
member M14. This member M14 is produced by electro-forming. A
photoresist pattern is produced on a flat glass plate, and nickel
is electro-formed on the surface. The resist coating is then
dissolved, and the nickel foil is removed to produce a foil mask
member M14. A cavity pattern measuring a minimum of 1.times.5 .mu.m
is produced in the foil material. Another example of a foil mask
member M14 is a semiconductor foil made of SiGaAs using a
sacrificial layer.
Such foil mask members M14 may be used directly on a workpiece as
illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, but can also be mounted, as shown in
FIGS. 26A-26B, on a stage so that relative positioning can be
adjusted. This example relates to forming holes or grooves 52 on a
curved surface 51 protruding from a workpiece W5 (SiO.sub.2). The
mask member M14 is held in a jig (not shown) so that the separation
distance between the curved surface 51 and the lower surface of the
mask member M14 is constant along the curvature shown in FIG. 26B.
The separation distance should be less than 100 .mu.m for exposure
with an energy beam for fabrication.
The cavity formed in this example is a plurality of holes 53 of
different diameters, and when the exposure is made by keeping the
relative position of the mask member M14 and the workpiece W5
constant, different hole sizes may be generated on the curved
surface 51. The hole sizes of 5, 10 and 15 .mu.m are formed in this
example. When the relative position is shifted by moving the jig,
fine-grooves 52 of the sizes mentioned above can be produced.
When the separation distance exceeds 100 .mu.m, beam scattering and
misalignment of the beam axis from the vertical can be caused, but
because the mask member M14 is a foil material such problems are
avoided by freely altering the shape of the curve. This example
demonstrates that forming of patterns on a non-flat surface is
possible with the fabrication method of the present invention.
The mask member M15 shown in FIG. 27 has its width varying in three
steps. This pattern is made by photolithography and electro-forming
is used to duplicate the pattern in nickel. To make the photoresist
pattern, electron beam drawing is used to make a photomasking as
well as pattern making. In both cases, control can be exercised to
produce ultra-fine patterns.
In the above examples cited, the energy beam may be FAB and if the
mask material is made of Si, the mask may be coated with gold so as
to prevent chemical reaction with the FAB.
FIGS. 28A-28B show another example of forming a pattern on a
workpiece W1. In this case, the mask member M1 is moved laterally
repeatedly during irradiation to generate a plurality of patterns.
The mask member M1 is a single wire of ultra-fine diameter which is
translated parallel to the workpiece W1 and stopped still for a
time at one position. The masked regions exhibit less material
removal during the still exposure thereby forming a series of line
protrusions 54 on the fabrication surface. The parallel translation
can be produced by using translation devices 10, 11, 14 and 15 such
as those shown in FIGS. 7 and 11. The advantage of this approach is
that only one mask member M1 is necessary to make a plurality of
parallel structures, and the spacing can be controlled by the
translation device.
FIG. 29 shows an approach of fabricating a fine-structure when the
mask member M15 does not meet the fine-size requirements. For
example, it is desired to make a cavity of 10 nm size on a
workpiece W1, but the available mask member M15 measures 1 .mu.m or
more. In this case, fabrication may be performed by using the edges
of the mask member M15 as illustrated in FIG. 29. The relative
position of the mask member M15 and the workpiece W1 can be varied
slightly (not to scale in FIG. 29) so that only a region of 10 nm
width is completely masked from an energy beam. The resulting
fine-protrusion structure has a width of 10 nm at the top section
of a stepped structure.
The examples shown in FIGS. 30A to 32B relate to a technique of
superimposing of a plurality of mask members to produce a pattern
on a workpiece. A mask member M16 having a circular cavity is
superimposed on another mask member M17 having a disc of a smaller
diameter to produce a crescent shaped pattern on the workpiece.
This is an example of making a complex pattern by superimposing
patterns of simpler shapes. Fine complex patterns are usually
difficult to make, and this approach is excellent for such
patterns.
FIG. 31 shows still another example of superimposing mask members.
The advantage is that relative position of the two mask members M18
can be changed to vary the shape and size of the space generated
therebetween. In this example, two L-shaped mask members M18 are
used to generate a rectangular shaped space. For example, as shown
in FIGS. 32A-32B, this type of opening can be used to repair a
specific local area of an IC circuit W6. The relative position can
be adjusted by using a micro-manipulator devices with a
piezo-electric element such as the one shown in FIGS. 8 to 10. This
type of repair service can also be provided by scanning with a
focused ion beam (FIB), but this method is much more time-consuming
in comparison to the method presented here.
When the workpiece W is made of a III-V compound semiconductor
material such as GaAs, AlGaAs, InGaAs or Si-group semiconductors,
the fabrication method of the present invention is particularly
suitable for making quantum effect devices. FIG. 33A shows an
example of a quantum line effect device. This type of device is
based on energy level change caused by the quantum effect to
generate light or a laser beam of shorter wavelength than the bulk
wavelength. The example shown relates to a quantum-line structure,
but the fabrication method is equally applicable to making
quantum-box or quantum-rod structures in accordance with the
descriptions provided earlier by moving the mask member M with
respect to the workpiece W.
FIG. 33A illustrates a quantum effect device comprising two types
of quantum-structures to generate two output laser beams of
different wavelengths (.lambda.1, .lambda.2) by excitation with a
high magnetic field or by light excitation of a certain state. The
workpiece W1 has protruding from a surface thereof two rows of
fine-structures 57, and the light generated by the excited electron
states is amplified by resonator mirrors at the ends of the rows to
emit laser beams from each end of the fine-structures 57. Because
the dimensions of the fine-structures are different, the quantum
effects are different and laser beams having different wavelengths
are generated.
FIG. 32B shows the basic method of making the quantum effect laser
device. A mask member M19 having two rows of cavities 58 of
different sizes is used to produce two rows of fine-structures 57
for generating two wavelengths .lambda.1 and .lambda.2. The mask
M19 is placed directly on or some distance away from the workpiece
W1, and the assembly is irradiated with an energy beam such as FAB.
This process transfers the pattern of the mask M19 onto the surface
of the workpiece W1 to produce fine-structure protrusions 57 shown
in FIG. 32A to generate the quantum effect.
FIGS. 34A-34B shows an application of the fabrication method to
making of a bearing 61 having a labyrinth-structured seal which
includes fine-grooves 62 extending on the inner peripheral surface
of the bearing 61 which is in contact with a shaft 60. The bearing
61 is made by the method illustrated in FIG. 35. The bearing 61 is
made up of two split half sections W5, and the inner peripheral
surface is irradiated with an energy beam B through a mask member
M20 to produce the fine-grooves 62 therein. The mask member M20
provided with a plurality of fine slits 63 is placed above the
inner surface of the split half bearing W5 and FAB B is irradiated
onto the inner surface through the slits 63. The split halves are
assembled together to form bearing 61 having a labyrinth
structure.
FIG. 36 shows another application of the technique of fabricating
the labyrinth structure to form a plurality of fine depressions 65
on the surface of a shaft piece W6 to act as friction reducers
between the shaft piece W6 and the bearing 66. The fabrication
technique of shaft piece W6 is shown in FIG. 37. A mask member M21
having holes arranged to correspond with the depressions 65 to be
formed in the shaft piece W6 are placed some distance above the
shaft piece W6, and an energy beam B such as FAB is irradiated
therethrough. In this example, the technique used was to use a mask
member M21 large enough to cover the shaft piece W6, and
irradiation process was carried out for a fixed time. The shaft
piece W6 was then rotated to successively position other surfaces
to the FAB irradiation. If the uniformity of the depressions are
important, a curved mask member M21 should be used and the energy
beam should be made to focus on the shaft piece W6.
FIG. 38 shows still another application of the fabrication method
to making of a bearing structure. The bearing 69 includes a flange
68 comprising several layers of seal rings W7 in the axial
direction on the interior to form a labyrinth seal structure. The
thickness of the seal rings W7 at a minimum section shown in FIGS.
39A-39B has a dimension "a" which should be made small to increase
the efficiency of the labyrinth seal structure and reduce
friction.
FIG. 40 shows a step in the making of such a bearing structure. A
hole 70 defining a minimum size clearance is pre-fabricated in a
seal-ring piece W7, and the thickness of the clearance section is
reduced by radiating an energy beam B through a mask member M22
having a circular opening 71 of a size slightly larger than the
diameter of the hole 70, as shown in FIG. 40. Fabrication with the
energy beam is flexible because the amount of material removed is
governed by the beam strength, and by adjusting the beam strength
and varying the time of exposure to the radiation, the material
removal rate can be controlled fairly precisely. The result is a
high performance bearing for reducing friction with a fine
labyrinth structure.
FIG. 41 shows an example of the use of focusing an energy beam to
reduce the size of the pattern of mask member M23 to be reproduced
on the surface of the workpiece W1. The mask member M23 shown in
FIG. 42 is made by electro-forming a Ni sheet. The dimension of the
smallest section 72 of the mask member M23 is 10 .mu.m. The energy
beam used in fabrication is a focusing FAB which focuses at a point
O, achieving a size reduction of 1/1000. If the width of the
section 72 is 10 .mu.m, and the focusing angle is 1 degree at the
focal point, then the width is reduced to 10 nm at a distance
approximately L=286 .mu.m from the focal point as illustrated in
FIG. 41. The result is a fabrication of a workpiece W1 shown in
FIG. 43 having a fine-structure protrusion 73 which is 1/1000th of
the section 72 of the mask member M23.
Focusing beams B usually have some aberrations, so the separation
distance between the workpiece W and the mask member M should be
adjusted until the desired dimension of the pattern is obtained on
the workpiece W. When the aberration of the focusing beam is too
high, the aberration may be turned to an advantage for allowing the
beam intensity to vary to produce desired fine-structures. In this
case also, adjustment of the separation distance is an important
parameter.
FIG. 44 shows another application of the Ni mask member M23. The
focusing beam B in this case is comprised of a radical
atomic/molecular particle beam, for example, methane-containing
gases or tungsten-containing gases such as WF.sub.6. A deposit film
74 of the order of 10 nm thickness is formed on one or more
surfaces of the workpiece W1.
FIG. 45 illustrates an example of the use of a rod-shaped mask
member M24. The mask member M24 is mounted integrally on a base
portion, shown earlier in FIG. 12C, to facilitate handling of the
fine rod. By adjusting the separation distance as in the case shown
in FIG. 41, it is possible to form a fine-structure line protrusion
75 which is a size-reduced replication of the rod mask member
M24.
FIGS. 46A and 46B are two examples of fine-structures made by using
several such rod mask member M24. In the case shown in FIG. 46A,
horizontally-arrayed rod mask members M24 are used in conjunction
with a FAB B to produce a plurality of parallel line protrusions
75. In the case shown in FIG. 46B, meshed rod mask members M25 are
used to produce crossed line protrusions 76.
FIG. 47 presents an application of the meshed rod mask member M25
made of Ni in conjunction with the technique of reduced projection
imaging to form crossed protrusions 76 on different faces of a
workpiece W3. This is an example of a three-dimensional
micro-fabrication technique which has been difficult to perform
using the conventional fabrication techniques. The products made by
the reduced projection imaging, having such fine-structures in a
three-dimensional workpiece, are useful in many fields of new
technologies such as advanced electronics, information
communication, quantum effect devices as well as in specialized
fields such as reduction of friction in severe environments.
Next will be described examples illustrating some of the products
which can be made by moving at least one of the components of the
fabrication system, comprising an energy beam source, a mask member
and a workpiece. Control over material removal is achieved by
adjusting the duration of the beam irradiation.
The technique utilizes the apparatus such as those shown in FIGS.
7-11. The micro-stage 14 of the micro-manipulator 9 is used to move
either the mask member M or the workpiece W in the x-direction
while the FAB source 5 radiates a FAB B. The duration of exposure
to the beam B in the various regions of the workpiece W is governed
by the track and speed of movement of the mask member M. The
irradiated regions are etched in proportion to the duration of
exposure to the beam, and the mask regions remain as protrusions in
the proportion that is determined by the duration of masking
received.
FIG. 48 illustrates an example of forming a groove having a width
dimension w and a curvature, whose cross sectional shape is given
by a function y=f(x). The process is carried out using a collimated
energy beam B, a stationary slit mask member M30 having a slit 81
of width w and a movable mask member M31 having an edge 82 aligned
parallel to the slit. The movable mask member M31 is moved at right
angles to the edge (x-direction) while irradiating the workpiece W
with the energy beam B so as to successively block part of the
energy beam B.
The quantity of material removed is proportional to the duration of
exposure, therefore, it can be expressed as, y=at. That is, at time
"at", the edge of the movable mask M31 should be positioned at
f(x). Starting from at=f(x), the material from the workpiece W is
removed by moving the movable mask M31 to follow an inverse
function of f(x), i.e. x=fi(at) to form the curvature. If a
single-pass removal produces a rough surface, the process may be
repeated in incremental steps. In this case, the movable mask
member M31 may be reciprocated so as to follow the curve x=fi(at)/n
at all times, where n is the number of reciprocations.
FIG. 49 shows a groove of a linear cross sectional shape, in which
the slope can be expressed as f(x)=bx, where x=a/b. By moving the
movable mask member M31 at a constant speed unidirectionally or by
reciprocating the mask member M31, a groove 84 having an inclined
surface 83 is fabricated. The process can be repeated by reversing
the edge 82 of the moving mask member M31, a V-shaped groove 85 as
shown in FIG. 50 can be produced, or an inverted V-shaped
protrusion 86 as shown in FIG. 51 may also be produced. To quicken
the fabrication speed for V-grooves, two movable mask members M31
may be used on both sides of the groove, as shown in FIG. 52, to
move synchronously or in reciprocation.
FIG. 53 shows the use of a multiple number, three or more, of
movable mask members M31 instead of a single movable mask member
M31 used in the above case. The illustration shows the movable mask
members M31 moving at right angles, but any direction of movement
can be utilized.
A simpler fabrication method for V-grooves is illustrated in FIG.
54. In this case, the slit width of movable mask member M32 is half
of the width of the groove 85, and the movable mask member M32 is
reciprocated laterally over a distance equal to the slit width. The
stationary mask member is not necessary in this case, and the
apparatus and the process are simplified greatly compared to the
method illustrated in FIG. 49. At the point of reversing the
movable mask member M32, there is a change in speed, but the groove
shape is not affected significantly by the speed change, because
the speed is usually slow.
To produce an intersecting structure to correspond to the one shown
in FIG. 53 using the above technique, the mask member M33 and the
workpiece W are each moved in two directions. The grooves intersect
to produce a depression as illustrated in FIG. 55. The same
structure can be produced by moving one of either the movable mask
member M33 or the workpiece W along with a rectangular shape given
by summing each movement vector of these articles.
To produce a groove 87 or protrusion 88 having a flat surface at
the bottom or the top, slit width w' of the movable mask member M34
should be larger than the moving distance w. The example shown has
a sloped surface, but it is apparent that, by regulating the speed
of mask movement, a curved surface 90 on a groove 91, shown in FIG.
57, can also be produced readily.
To produce a sharp tipped line protrusion structure, it is
obtainable from the line protrusion structure 86 shown in FIG. 51
by further processing to plane the surfaces aside, but such a
structure can also be produced by reciprocating a polygonal wire
mask member M35 over a distance of the width required. This one
step process shown in FIG. 58 is simpler for producing a tipped
structure 92. By changing the moving speed of a circular mask
member M36 shown in FIG. 59, it is possible to produce a protrusion
94 having a curved surface 93.
FIG. 60A shows an example of using a mask member M37 having a
special patterned shape, a three-stepped pattern. The mask member
M37 having this type of pattern can be produced by the
electro-forming process. A photoresist pattern is formed on a flat
glass plate, and a nickel film is then electro-formed thereon.
Subsequently, the resist layer is dissolved and the nickel film is
removed.
The final Ni film measures 1-10 nm in thickness, and the minimum
dimension of the mask member M37 in this case is 1-5 .mu.m. The
film material may be Si, GaAs and other semiconductor materials
which can be made into thin films. Photoresist patterns and masking
can be made by electron beam drawing, which can be controlled
precisely to produce any type of desired patterns.
The mask member M37 is provided with three different widths (95a,
95b and 95c), respectively, at 1 .mu.m; 10 .mu.m; and 20 .mu.m. As
shown in FIG. 60B, when the mask member M37 is moved over a
distance equal to the width 95b (10 .mu.m) while being irradiated
with an energy beam B, it is possible to simultaneously produce a
fine-structure having three different heights at the locations
corresponding to 95a, 95b and 95c on the surface of the workpiece
W, because of the variations in the energy density distribution
across the surface of the workpiece W.
The above case is an example of a three-dimensional fine-structure
which can be produced by moving the mask member M relative to the
workpiece W or vice versa. The method is efficient, simple and
relatively quick. The products made by such a method can be used
for advanced applications of electrical and optical
micro-circuitries.
The examples shown in FIGS. 61A-61B and further relate to
fabrication with two directions of relative movement between the
workpiece W and the mask member M. Typical directions are
orthogonal, and the first direction is for making a structure in
such direction, and the second direction of movement is for making
the structure over a wider area. The basic movement is to move in
the second direction at a particular location in the first path,
and this step is repeated at different locations on the second
path.
FIG. 61A shows a method of producing a sharp tip on a cylindrical
workpiece W2. The workpiece W2 is placed such that its axis lies at
right angles to the beam, and the workpiece W2 is rotated about the
axis while a plate mask member M38 placed between the beam and the
workpiece W is moved axially. When the workpiece W is rotated
repeatedly at a rotational speed higher relative to the lateral
movement speed of the mask member M38, an approximately cone-shaped
surface 97 can be fabricated, as shown in FIG. 61B.
FIGS. 62 to 63 show a method of making a groove around a
circumference of a disc-shaped workpiece W8 using the method
illustrated in FIG. 54. A disc-shaped workpiece W8 is freely
rotatably supported on its axis, and a mask member M38 having a
circular opening 99 is radially reciprocated over a distance about
equal to the size of the opening 99. By adjusting the reciprocating
speed pattern as well as the shape of the opening 99, different
shapes of grooves such as a curved surface groove 98 (see FIG. 62),
a v-groove 100 (see FIG. 63) can be produced. By adjusting the
rotational speed, the depth of the grooves 98, 100 can be altered
(see FIGS. 63, 64).
FIGS. 65 and further relate to fabrication methods based on
providing more complex relative motion between the mask member M
and the workpiece W. The example shown in FIG. 65 utilizes the
technique illustrated in FIG. 55. A sphere formed on an end of a
cylindrical workpiece W2 is provided with a plurality of small
protrusion portions 101. To make the depression regions in such a
fine-structure, a mask member M39 having a circular opening 102 is
reciprocated in the axial direction while the workpiece W2 is
rotated and swung about its axis with an amplitude of swing about
equal to the reciprocation distance. This basic step is repeated a
number of times to produce a plurality of protrusion portions
101.
The method illustrated in FIG. 66 relates to forming a
fine-protrusion 104 having a sloping side surface and a flat
surfaced top shown in FIG. 67 by rotating a frame mask member M40
having a fine wire 102 disposed within a frame 103 about an axis at
right angles to the frame plane. When frame mask member M40 is
provided with a slit, a depression is formed as explained earlier
with reference to FIG. 55.
FIGS. 68 to 73 illustrate examples of making various
fine-structures by altering the incident angle of the energy beam
combined with relative motion of the mask member.
FIG. 68 shows a rotation of a substrate workpiece W1 oriented at an
angle .theta. to the vertical using the apparatus shown in FIG. 66
to produce a three-dimensional spherical or oval lens-shaped fine
protrusion 105 or a depression.
FIG. 69A and 69B show two methods of making cavities of different
cross sectional shapes. A mask member M41 having a circular opening
106 is placed between a workpiece W and an energy beam B whose beam
source is made to oscillate as shown in FIG. 69A. The incident beam
angle is changed by this arrangement to produce a cavity 108 having
a wider bottom and sloped side walls 107 as illustrated in FIG.
69A. By adjusting the speeds of various motions suitably, the
bottom surface may be made a flat surface 109 as shown in FIG. 69A
or a concave surface 110 as shown in FIG. 69B. FIG. 70 shows an
example of using a slit mask member M42 having a slit 111. This
arrangement produces a dovetail groove 113 with sloped side walls
112. This type of product is useful in making a fine rail-slider
component.
FIGS. 71A and 71B show a method in which the beam B is made to
undergo a swiveling motion about the vertical axis of a circular
opening 114 provided in a mask member M43. The product produced by
this arrangement is a ring-shaped groove 115 having both inner and
outer side walls inclined at a same angle, as illustrated in FIG.
71B.
FIG. 72 shows a method using a mask member M44 having a square
opening 116 to produce a cross-groove 117 having a flat bottom in a
workpiece W by making the beam undergo a swiveling motion within
two vertical planes orthogonally intersecting each other.
FIG. 73 shows a method using a mask member M45 having a plurality
of fine openings, and the beam is made to swing in various
directions or made to undergo a swiveling motion. The product is
three-dimensional inclined passages 118 through the workpiece
W.
To summarize the basic features of the method presented so far, it
can be seen that a relative movement of a workpiece W with respect
to a mask member M enables a significant increase in the degree of
freedom in designing and producing complex three-dimensional
fine-structures which have not been possible within the scope of
the conventional fabrication methodologies. Complex curves and
other fine features can be readily produced as demonstrated above.
In general, the principle is to design a mask pattern to correspond
with the pattern required on a workpiece, and conduct fabrication
by varying the relative speed and orientation. As demonstrated
above, when one mask member produces only a limited pattern, a
combination of different mask members can be used to perform
fabrication repeatedly. It has been shown that various methods of
fabrication can be combined to produce complex fine-structures
which are not possible with one method. Additional flexibility is
offered by altering the direction of an incident beam.
Most of the examples presented so far have been based on a premise
that the energy beam is a parallel beam. FIGS. 74 to 76 illustrate
examples of fabrication using focusing beams B. FIG. 74 shows a
method of making a surface protrusion 119 having a smoothly curved
surface by moving a fine-wire mask member M46 along the beam, i.e.
vertically in the z-axis direction. Normal energy beams do not
maintain complete parallelism, and exhibit a certain amount of
scatter angle. In this method, this is used to an advantage because
the beam energy becomes unevenly distributed, when the separation
distance between the mask member M46 and the workpiece W is
increased.
FIGS. 75 and 76 relate to a method of utilizing an intentionally
focused energy beam, which is quite useful when the mask member M
or the pattern on the mask member M is too large to meet the fine
size requirements of the fine structure to be produced on a
workpiece W. In such cases, a focused beam is used to generate
reduced projection imaging as discussed earlier. This technique
allows varying reduction ratios of the size of the image projected
onto the workpiece W, by adjusting the separation distance between
the mask member M and the fabrication surface of the workpiece
W.
FIG. 75 shows a method of using a focusing beam B in conjunction
with varying separation distance between the mask member M and the
workpiece W. In this case, the mask member is a fine-wire mask
member M47 which is moved along an x-axis, and is stopped at two
locations, for example, so as to control the degree of exposure
received by the fabrication surface. The product formed by the
reduced projection imaging technique is a line-protrusion structure
120 having a flat top surface and smooth side surfaces. If the
vertical separation distance (z-axis) is varied during the
irradiation step, the reduction ratio can be varied so that the
fine-structures, produced at the two locations, can be made the
same size or different sizes.
FIG. 76 shows a method using a mask member M48 having a spherical
center piece 121 from which four needles 122 extend outwardly. The
mask member M48 is rotated about the axis of the spherical center
piece 121 coinciding with the optical axis of the energy beam. The
product produced by the reduced projection imaging technique in
this case is a protrusion fine-structure 40. Because the needles
122 are revolving, the fabrication surface is exposed uniformly to
the energy beam, and ultimately only the spherical center piece
produces the effect of reduced projection imaging. Reduced image of
the needles may be produced by periodically stopping the revolution
while irradiating with the energy beam.
Smooth surfaces created by the fabrication method of the present
invention enable the application of the method to making of fine
optical lenses. An example shown in FIG. 77 relates to an optical
lens structure 123 of a size compatible with the wavelength of the
order of white light. When the incident light strikes the lens
structure 123, those wavelength components in the incident light
larger than the lens structure 123 are scattered. For example, if
the diameter of the lens structure 123 is 500 nm, longer
wavelengths components, mostly red components, are scattered, and
the shorter wavelength components, mostly blue, are focused by the
lens structure 123 as illustrated in FIG. 77. The product therefore
can function as a wavelength selector, an optical filter or a laser
diffraction element.
FIG. 78 illustrates a method of making an optical lens structure
124 having needle protrusions 125 for quantum effect generation.
The lens structure 124 is constructed such that the wavelength of
the incident light L is in resonance with the wavelength of the
light generated by the quantum effect at the tip of the needle
protrusions 125. When the incident light L reaches the surface of
the needle protrusions 125 of the optical lens structure 124,
induced emission is generated thereby causing amplification of the
focused light.
FIG. 79 shows an example of another optical product made by the
fabrication method. The optical structure acts as an optical
homogenizer 129 comprising a plurality of fine-lens structures 127
fabricated on a flat plate 126 to disperse a incident laser beam
uniformly and the dispersed beams are again collimated by a lens
128. The fabrication method permits formation of many more
fine-lens structures 127 than the number possible by the
conventional methods, and the uniformity of the output laser beam
is increased significantly.
The following is a method of copying a large number of patterns.
FIG. 80 shows a typical arrangement of an apparatus utilizing a
piezo-electric element for control of a parallel movement of the
mask member M with respect to the workpiece W, and parallel-plate
elastic hinges for guiding the direction of mask member
movement.
The apparatus has a vacuum chamber (not shown) which houses an
energy beam source 212, a specimen stage 226 for placing a mask
member M and workpiece W, and a goniometer stages 227, 228 for
placing the specimen stage 226. The beam source 212 represents any
energy beam 214, such as fast atomic beam (FAB), ion beam, electron
beam, laser beam, radiation beam, X-ray beam or radical particle
beam. The mask member M has an opening which permits the beam to be
radiated onto the workpiece W. The workpiece W is subjected to
fabrication by etching or chemical vapor deposition through the
effect of beam irradiation.
The mask member M is controlled by piezo-electric elements 223,
224. One piezo-electric element controls the movement in one
direction only, and this is made possible by the use of a
parallel-plate hinged device 225 which confines the movement of the
mask member M in the direction of the extension/contraction
movement of the piezo-electric element. The movement of the
piezo-electric element is transmitted to a mask holder which holds
the mask member M. Two parallel-plate hinged devices 223, 224 are
disposed orthogonally in a horizontal plane to provide the
horizontal parallel movement of the mask member M.
When the hinged devices 223, 224 are driven by a time-motion
pattern of a sine or cosine wave imposed on the piezo-electric
element, it is possible to move the mask member M in a circular
shape of a radius of about 10 nm, for example, thereby permitting
fabrication in the order of nm precision required for making
quantum effect devices.
The movement guide for the mask member M may also be provided by
the use of magnetostrictive or thermal stress devices. It may also
be accomplished by providing an elastic cantilever attached to the
unidirectional hinged device, or a sliding guide having a
pre-stressed member. Such micro-manipulator devices can also be
used to move the beam source while the mask member is made
stationary.
The specimen stage 226 is mounted on goniometer stages 227, 228
which are driven by a motor 230 to rotate the specimen stage 226
around the .alpha.-axis and .beta.-axis so that the mask member M
and the workpiece W can be oriented suitably with respect to the
beam axis.
The alignment of the mask member M and the workpiece W is performed
with the use of a microscope which can be any of an optical,
electron, scanning secondary electron or laser microscope. Rough
alignment may be performed using stage moving devices such as used
in semiconductor manufacturing processes.
The movement traces of the micro-manipulator for the mask member M
is computed by an ancillary simulation device, and the mask member
M is moved in the X-, Y-directions by the micro-manipulator in
accordance with the computed results. When the required shape of
the fine-structure to be fabricated on the workpiece W is input
into a support device, operating parameters, such as the shape of
the opening in the mask member M, traces of the movement of the
mask member M and the necessary degree of exposure, are determined
by the support device from the simulation based on the operating
parameters.
Etching can be performed by selecting an etching agent suitably
with respect to the material to be processed. For example, if the
workpiece W is quartz, FAB of SiF.sub.6 may be utilized. FABs can
readily be made to produce a highly linear large diameter beam,
because of the lack of electrical charges, and are particularly
suitable for fabrication of insulating materials. Energy beams can
be chosen from any of suitable energy beams, such as FAB, ion
beams, electron beam, laser beams, radiation beams, X-ray beams or
radical particle beams. The workpiece may be any of metal,
semiconductor or insulator materials. Semiconductor materials
include silicon, SiO.sub.2 and quantum effect materials include
GaAs, AlGaAs, InGaAs. Structural materials include Al, stainless
steels, and super hard materials include tungsten, titanium,
tungsten carbide, boron nitride, silicon nitride. Optical materials
include plastics, polyimide, glass, quartz, optical glasses, ruby,
sapphire, magnesium fluoride, zinc selenide and zinc telluride.
FIG. 81 shows a method of making a plurality of needle-protrusion
structures of the order of nm by etching a workpiece W of metallic
or glass plate. The beam is a FAB of high linearity having a
uniform energy density emitted from a beam source 212. The
workpiece W is stationary and is disposed coaxially with the center
of the circular spot beam. Between the beam source 212 and the
workpiece W is a mask member M having a plurality of beam energy
transmission holes 215 for controlling the exposure of the
workpiece W to the beam. The beam energy transmission holes 215 are
rotated in parallel with the workpiece W to control the degree of
exposure to the beam received by the fabrication surface.
In this example, the mask member M is made of Ni foil of 10 .mu.m
thickness, and the holes 215 are disposed in a lattice pattern with
a spacing of 25 .mu.m. The mask member M is rotated as illustrated
in FIG. 81 in a plane parallel to the fabrication surface so that
the holes 215 distribute the beam energy in such a way as to
produce the needle-protrusion structures. The radius of the
parallel circular motion is 6 .mu.m in this example.
The process of forming the needle-protrusion structures will be
explained in more detail in the following.
FIG. 82A shows the relative radius r.sub.0 of a hole 215 with
respect to a larger radius r.sub.1 of the circular motion of the
mask member M about a center C. The arrangement causes an uneven
distribution of radiation energy per unit time on the fabrication
surface. FIG. 82B shows the traces of the circular motion of the
holes 215. As illustrated, the exposure is the highest in the
vicinity of the center C, and diminishes gradually towards the
outer radial direction. At the center C, there is no exposure to
the beam. Since the depth of fabrication into the workpiece W is
proportional to the degree of exposure, therefore, the workpiece W
assumes a shape illustrated in FIG. 82C, which is produced from one
transmission hole 215, such that a narrow thin needle-shaped
protrusion structure is produced in the center of a crater
structure 216. The mask member M has a plurality of transmission
holes 215, and the resulting structure on the workpiece is a
plurality of craters having a needle-protrusion structure in the
center region of each crater 216.
By etching the needle-protrusion structure, the height of the
needle may be reduced and the surrounding region can be made into a
parabolic mirror surface, by a series of operations shown in FIGS.
83A-83C. The crater 216 having a needle-protrusion shown in FIG.
83A is etched to reduce the height of the needle as shown in FIG.
83B, the final height depending on the duration of etching. The
curvature of the crater may be made to resemble a parabolic curve
shown in FIG. 83C, and etching is carried out to shape the crater
mirror so that the needle-protrusion structure corresponds to the
focal point of the parabolic curve.
The resulting mirror structure shown in FIG. 83D has the needle
protrusion located at the focal point of the parabolic mirror. When
a light source is placed behind the mirror, the needle protrusion
acts as a waveguide, and the light is scattered in all directions
from the tip of the needle-protrusion, and the scattered light is
reflected from the parabolic mirror surface to be directed as a
parallel beam of light. The fine-structure produced functions as an
optical waveguide which converts directionally randomly light from
a planar light source, for example an electroluminescent (EL)
source, to a directional beam of light.
Further, in the above example, the radius of the circular trace of
the parallel movement of the mask member M was kept constant,
however, the radius of the circular motion may be varied as the
fabrication proceeds. An arrangement shown in FIG. 84 relates to
such a case. If the mask member M and the workpiece W are fixed
coaxially on the beam axis and are made stationary, the
fine-structure formed on the workpiece W will be a series of holes
having vertical side walls of the same shape as holes 215 on the
mask member M. If the mask member M and the workpiece W are
subjected to parallel circular motions of one common radius about
an offset rotation axis, the fine-structure formed in the workpiece
W will be holes of a radius given by the envelope traces of the
outer periphery of the holes of the mask member M. Circular holes
215 on the mask member M will produce circular holes having a
larger radius than that of the holes 215. For example, if the
diameter of the holes 215 is 10 .mu.m, stationary mask member M
will generate holes of 10 .mu.m diameter in the workpiece W. If the
mask member M is offset 6 .mu.m from the beam center C and rotated
at a constant speed, holes of 22 .mu.m diameter are produced on the
workpiece W. Therefore, by gradually reducing the radius of
rotation of the mask member M from an initial value to smaller
values with progress in etching, holes 216 having parabolic curved
walls, illustrated in FIG. 85, will be formed in the workpiece
W.
FIG. 86 shows a method of making concave lenses on a workpiece. As
shown in FIG. 87A, the offset radius of motion r.sub.1 of the
transmission hole 215 in the mask member M is smaller than the
radius r.sub.0 of the transmission holes 215. The magnitude of
offset is relatively small so that the centers of rotations are
closely spaced. The rotation radius is diminished gradually as the
etching process proceeds, and the fine-structures produced in the
workpiece W are a series of concave lenses as illustrated in FIG.
87B.
The product thus formed functions as a multi-reflective lens array.
By selecting the radius of the transmission holes 215 in the mask
member M to be on the order of nm, reflector lenses having the same
order of diameter size can be made. The mask member M having
transmission holes of the order of nm can be made by the usual
planar photolithographic process or by the focusing ion beam
method. By making the lens dimension to be smaller than the
wavelength of the input light, a scattering effect will be
generated, and the lenses may be utilized as a wavelength selection
device. In this case, the wavelength selectivity depends on the
size of semi-spherical convex lenses so that an array of convex
lenses having a common diameter will scatter all light of
wavelengths larger than the diameter of the lenses. For example, a
convex micro-lens array of 500 nm diameter convex lenses transmits
only light comprising wavelengths shorter than blue light.
FIG. 88 shows a method of making another optical fine-structure. In
this case, the diameter of circular rotation motion of the mask
member M is made much larger than the radius of the transmission
holes 215. For example, the diameter of the holes 215 is 5 .mu.m
while the maximum radius of the circular motion is 50 .mu.m. The
result is a ring-shared fine-structure consisting of a series of
concentric circles. When the motion radius is changed gradually and
continually during the fabrication process, the depth of etching
can be changed continually depending on the degree of exposure to
the beam. At a given radius of rotation, the depth of etching
remains constant.
As shown in FIG. 88, a sparse series of transmission holes 215 are
provided in the mask member M. At a given motion radius of the mask
member M, series of rings are fabricated on the workpiece W in the
way described above. By changing the rate of change of the motion
radius from one radius to another in the process of continual
change of the motion radius as shown in FIG. 89, a profile 216 such
as the one shown in FIG. 90 may be generated on the fabrication
surface. The fine-structure thus produced can function as a Fresnel
lens, which acts as a beam concentrator. Using the mask member M
having regularly distributed transmission holes 215 as shown in
FIG. 88, it is possible to fabricate a multi-Fresnel lens array
structure on the workpiece W.
FIG. 91 shows a method of making a multi-convex lens array
structure. In this case, in addition to rotatable mask member Mb,
Mc, a stationary mask members Ma is coaxially fixed on the beam
axis. The energy beams passing through the transmission holes 215
provided in the rotating mask members Mb, Mc, must also pass
through the transmission holes 215A provided in the stationary mask
member Ma. Therefore, by rotating the mask members Mb, Mc as
described in the previous case, the outer diameter of the
fabricated lens becomes the same as the diameter of the
transmission holes 215A of the stationary mask member Ma. In this
case the edges of the lens are sharply defined.
An example of the multi-convex lens array made by such method is
shown in FIG. 93. The energy beam 212 is a laser beam. The mask
members are a stationary member Ma and two rotating members Mb, Mc
made of Cr-vapor deposited quartz plates. The stationary mask
member Ma is provided with transmission holes of 10 .mu.m diameter
distributed in a lattice pattern with a spacing of 20 .mu.m. The
rotating mask members Mb, Mc are provided with Cr-coated mask
patches of 10 .mu.m diameter distributed in a lattice pattern of a
20 .mu.m spacing, as shown in FIG. 92A. This means that the movable
mask members Mb, Mc permit the laser beam to transmit only through
those areas not having the Cr-mask patches. The rotation motion of
the mask member Mb is illustrated in FIG. 92B. The stationary holes
215A and the rotation mask patches 215B, 215C are separated by a
180 degree phase shift during the horizontal rotation motion of the
movable mask members Mb, Mc. Therefore, the mask pattern formed by
the patches 215B, 215C undergo rotation as illustrated in a series
of drawings in FIG. 92B, and exposed region Y successively changes
position about the beam axis. The product fabricated is a convex
lens array shown in FIG. 93.
FIGS. 94A-94E show a method of making another optical array
structure. In this case, the shape of the mask member M is changed
during the fabrication process.
The steps will be described in more detail in the following. When
the step of producing the convex lens is completed as in FIG. 94A,
the shape of the mask member M is changed to the one shown in FIG.
94B having a circular opening of a diameter smaller than the
diameter of the transmission hole used to form the lens shown in
FIG. 94A. The exposure with the mask member M produces another
convex lens of a smaller diameter than before as shown in FIG. 94C.
The same steps using still smaller diameters, such as shown in FIG.
94D, may be repeated a number of times to generate a fine-structure
shown in FIG. 92E. The product thus fabricated is a Fresnel lens
array of excellent light concentrating characteristics.
FIG. 95 shows a method of making still another optical
fine-structure. In this case, the stationary mask member Ma and the
movement of the rotation mask members Mb, Mc are the same as
before. The energy beam source 212 in this case generates FAB, and
the transmission holes are covered with gold foil mask members. The
stationary mask member Ma is provided with transmission holes 215A.
The rotation mask members Mb, Mc are provided with an array of mask
patches made of iron in a pattern shown in FIG. 96. The motion
patterns of the exposed region Y generated by the movable mask
members Mb, Mc are the same as those illustrated in FIG. 92B. The
product fabricated is an array of convex lenses shown in FIG. 97.
The flat portion of the array is produced as follows. After the
exposed region Y has moved through half a circle, the mask members
Mb, Mc are moved for a distance A equal to the length A of the
array so that the exposed region Y formed by the lower iron array
and the transmission hole 215A is also moved a half circle. This
motion is illustrated in FIG. 95 by the arrows. The overall motion
is a combination of the rotation motion and the translation motion
while the workpiece W is exposed to the FAB. The motion pattern is
complex, but the dimensional precision of the fabricated structure
is high.
FIG. 98 shows a method of making another fine-structure useful for
optical applications by moving the mask member M linearly in
parallel motions.
The mask member M is provided with a plurality of transmission
slits 215 of a given parallel spacing. In this case, the slits
measuring 10.times.100 nm are spaced 10 nm apart. The energy beam
emitted from the energy beam source 212 passes through the slits
215 to expose the fabrication surface of a workpiece W. The mask
member M is moved periodically in a step distance of 10 nm, for
example. The relationship of the distance of movement x and time t
is shown in FIG. 99A. When the exposure to the beam source is
controlled so as to produce 10 nm etching depth in a given time
interval, a product having a profile and crest pitch 2a shown in
FIG. 99B is produced.
When the material is transparent to the light being radiated, the
fine-structure functions as an optical sine-wave diffraction
element. Such a device can be used in front of a
charge-coupled-device (CCD) screen of a CCD video camera to act as
a lowpass filter for filtering parasitic signals due to images
formed by frequency spatial signals.
Using the same linear moving mask members driven by the sine waves
shown in FIG. 100, a periodic fine-structure having a needle tip
shown in FIG. 101 is produced. The spacing of 10 nm in the periodic
fine-structure thus produced is smaller than the electron waves,
the electrons are confined to the first step of the periodic
structure and cannot move to another step. This phenomenon can be
utilized to produce another quantum effect device.
When the same slit mask member M is used in combination with a
parallel motion having a drive pattern shown in FIG. 102, a
trapezoidal fine-structure having periodic flat tops as shown in
FIG. 103 is produced. When the spacing between the flat tops is of
the order of incident light, a diffraction grating effect is
generated such that higher order diffraction waves of an incident
laser beam are blocked. Such a device, placed in front of a laser
beam reception device in a CD player, may function as a filter for
higher order diffraction waves.
FIGS. 104 to 106 relate to other fabrication examples using a
motion pattern combining parallel linear movements with variable
rate of motion.
The mask member M is provided with a beam transmission cavity shown
in FIG. 104. The mask member M is moved in a horizontal plane at
right angles to the beam axis. If the mask member M is moved at a
constant speed continually during the exposure, a semi-cylindrical
fine-structure shown in FIG. 105 is produced. If the mask member M
is moved with time in a periodic sine wave manner, i.e., the speed
of the linear motion is gradually increased, decreased and stopped,
then this variable rate of motion is repeated in the opposite
direction. Under this type of movement pattern, the degree of
exposure to the beam energy per unit time received by the workpiece
W will vary in a spatial sine wave distribution, and the
fine-structure produced is a convex rod lens structure atop a
rectangular base, as shown in FIG. 106.
When the fine-structure shown in FIG. 105 is made of a transparent
material, it can function as multi-cylindrical lens. Such an
optical device can transmit an incident beam falling on the rear
surface of the structure as lines of focused beams, thus
functioning as a lenticular lens, and can be used in place of a
revolving mirror used in rapid frame photography.
The fine-structure shown in FIG. 113 is made from the
semi-cylindrical fine-structure shown in FIG. 105 by turning the
mask member M 90 degrees about the beam axis, and moving linearly
at a constant speed parallel to the workpiece W. The product is an
array of semi-spherical lenses of the order of nm. An incident beam
falling on the back surface of the array is uniformly dispersed and
is then focused by the lens, and therefore the array functions as
an optical homogenizer. The beam intensity output from this
structure is significantly more uniform compared with the
conventional optical homogenizers, because of the significantly
higher density of fabricated lenses.
FIG. 107 shows a method of making a concave channel structure shown
in FIG. 108. The mask member M in this case is provided with
circular transmission holes 215 in a checkered pattern, and is
moved linearly at a constant speed. This type of fine-structure can
also be produced by a mask member M having linearly arranged
circular holes 215, but the checkered pattern is much more suitable
for producing an array of convex lens channels, particularly when
the separation distance of the channels is of the order of nm
compared with arranging the circular holes 215 in a straight line
to produce the same fine-structure.
FIG. 109 shows an example in which the checkered holes are arranged
in a lattice matrix to produce an array of densely packed convex
lenses shown in FIG. 111. The mask member M in this case is moved
at a constant speed in a square trace as shown in FIG. 110 such
that the movement plane is parallel to the workpiece.
FIG. 112 is another mask member M for making an array of densely
packed convex lenses, however, in this case, the circular regions
are not transmission holes but masking regions. Between the masking
regions are transmission cavities 215 of diamond shape densely
distributed across the mask member as shown in FIG. 112. The mask
member M is moved in a square pattern as in the previous case to
produce the micro-convex semi-spherical lens array shown in FIG.
113. When the spacing of the convex lens is made to be on the order
of the wavelength of light, the array can function as an optical
homogenizer to convert an incident laser beam having a Gaussian
intensity distribution to an output laser beam having a uniform
intensity distribution.
FIG. 114 shows an arrangement of an energy beam source 212, a mask
member M which is fixed and spaced apart with some distance
parallel to a workpiece W mounted on a specimen stage. The mask
member M and the workpiece W can be caused to undergo a swing
motion by means of goniometer stages 227, 228 with respect to fixed
beam source 212. The fine-structure produced by this arrangement is
shown in FIG. 115 which is an array of micro-concave lenses. The
swing motion is about an .alpha.-axis at the start and the swing
axis is gradually rotated about the beam axis as the fabrication
process is continued. Such motions of the goniometer stages are
readily provided by computer control of the goniometer drives.
FIG. 116 shows another arrangement of the basic components for the
fabrication process. The goniometer stages 227, 228 are to swing
with a synchronous cycle about the .alpha.-and .beta.-axes, and the
time-motion pattern is sine and cosine waves, respectively. The
surface of the specimen stage is inclined at an angle and rotates
about the beam axis. The mask member M is rotated about the center
of the mask member shown in FIG. 112 and is moved in the direction
of the arrow shown in FIG. 116, and the result is a fine-structure
having intersecting protrusions produced by cavities as shown in
FIG. 117. The cavities may be filled with electrodes to produce a
multi-field emitter array.
FIG. 118 shows still another arrangement of the basic components of
the fabrication process. The goniometer stages are inclined with
respect to the beam axis as in the previous example, and rotated in
the white arrow direction. At the same time, the mask member M is
moved linearly and parallel to the workpiece W as shown by the
solid arrows. The fine-structure produced has open end cavities 216
having curved side walls as shown in FIG. 119. The product can be
used as ferule for coupling optical fibers. The ferules have a high
dimensional precision, and facilitate insertion of fibers because
of their wide opening.
The completed products presented thus far have been fabricated
directly using an energy beam on a material. Depending on the
nature of the workpiece W, fabrication time and cost may be
excessive or the yield may be low. There may be other processing
problems, such as the functional shape of the material being
difficult to etch, and the complementary configuration can be
easily made but the configuration itself cannot be made directly.
An approach of applying a mold process using a mold fabricated by
the invention to duplicate the shape will be presented in the
following.
The basic steps are illustrated in FIGS. 120A-120E. In FIG. 120A, a
workpiece W is fabricated by the energy beam fabrication method of
the present invention. In FIG. 120B a complementary replication 225
of the workpiece W is made by means of injection molding or
electro-forming. In FIG. 120C, the replication 225 is removed. If
this is functional, the final product has been obtained. If a
product shown in FIG. 120A is needed, further replication work is
carried using the product 225 shown in FIG. 120C to perform
injection molding or electro-forming shown in FIG. 120D to produce
the final product 226. This approach is useful in mass production
of plastic mold products and the like.
An example of electro-forming will be presented next. First, the
material such as GaAs single crystal is fabricated in FAB of
chloride gas atoms to make an array of micro-convex lenses. Next,
the surface of the array is sputtered with gold to make an
electrically conductive layer. The sputtered array is immersed in a
bath of Ni--Co solution to carry out Ni electro-forming. The
deposited film is peeled off to produce an array substrate of GaAS
micro-lenses having a Ni-base with a gold layer.
Some of the features of the fabrication method of the present
invention will be summarized below. The method is applicable to a
workpiece having a large disparity between high and low points on
the fabrication surface. The mask member can be placed far away
from the workpiece in such a case, but the large distance of
separation does not affect the fabrication ability of such energy
beams as FAB having high beam linearity. Therefore, a bearing
structure having a curved fabrication surface can be processed
readily by placing the mask member away from the workpiece to
fabricate the necessary fine grooved structures directly on the
fabrication surface.
The curved surface having such grooved structure can be used as
friction reduction means for bearing components. The fine groove
dimensions the order of obtained by the fabrication method enables
to reduction of the spacing between the grooves, thus increasing
the groove pitch, and the clearance between the bearing and the
shaft can also be reduced to the nm order. Such fine-structures are
useful in optical disc heads to reduce friction while maintaining a
tight fit, thus enabling to production of high density memory
devices. When the fine-groove structures is used in shaft seals,
labyrinth seal structure can be produced readily by the fabrication
method, to reduce frictional forces while reducing conductance.
When applied to magnetic seal devices, the fine-grooves and tight
clearance will reduce leakage of vapor of the magnetic fluid
medium.
In the examples presented, the energy beams were selected from fast
atomic beams, ion beams, electron beam, laser beams, radiation
beams, X-ray beams and radical particle beams. However, the energy
beams are not limited to those mentioned above. The workpiece can
be chosen from any of the following materials but is not
necessarily restricted thereto: semiconductor materials such as
silicon, silicon dioxide; quantum effect materials such as GaAs,
AlGaAs, InGaAs; structural materials such as aluminum, stainless
steels; hard and refractory materials such as tungsten, titanium,
tungsten carbide, boron nitride, titanium nitride, ceramics;
optical materials such as plastics, polyimide, glasses, quartz
glass, optical glasses, ruby, sapphire, magnesium fluoride, zinc
selenide and zinc telluride and others.
* * * * *